(Yes, those are Xbox logos on my thumbs. Why? Because Valentine DiGriz is an Xbox girl. Should anyone ever cosplay, it’s the Xbox controller she has on a bandolier at her hip. Assuming that’s still a bandolier.) But I got dressed up in my usual “author” suit, which some ladies deemed as “extremely kissable”:

And Loganberry Books had me on a sign out front, like I was a real author and everything:

And I had Great Scott’s Bakery – the best cupcakes in Cleveland, and I assure you I’ve tried ’em all – do me up two sets of Flux-themed cupcakes. The first were Boston Kreme-flavored cupcakes, which if you’ll recall Kit said were the sign of a slovenly nature and yet, strangely, were Valentine’s preference:

The second were vanilla kreme, but Scott (yes, Great Scott’s bakery is run by Great Scott) wanted flames on the cupcakes, and so made really high poofy flamey cupcakes.

I did not get photos of the event – I usually take a photo of the audience, but this time I forgot. But I’d say about forty people showed up to hear me do an Extremely Dramatic reading, including a Surprise Sweetie Appearance from my sweetie who came all the way from Pennsylvania – which would be the drive-in record if not for another person I knew who’d driven four hours from the hell-and-gone side of Michigan to see me for an hour or two.

And I read my Dramatic Chapter, and shilled for my goddaughter Rebecca’s charity Rebecca’s Gift, and did not eat cupcakes until the next morning.